Kathy Webb-Kane was a socialite who donned the costume of Batwoman to emulate Batman. After faking her death, she became the Headmistress of Spyral.
History
By age 25, Kathy Webb was an underground film director, a poet, and something of a wild child. But when she met Nathan Kane, he bought her a circus, and she fell head-over-heels in love with him. They were together for seven years before he died of a stroke. After this, she was approached by a secret organization called Spyral to find the Batman's secret identity.
Assessing the information on the Caped Crusader, she decided the best approach was to make him chase her. To that end, she brushed up on detective skills, martial arts and motor-biking, got a costume and started calling herself Batwoman. Her plan worked, and within a few months they were an item.
However, Batman was careful not to give her his secret identity, and in fact worked out hers first. This, coupled with her feelings for Batman, lead her to try and break off ties with Spyral. However, her employer, the mysterious Agent-Zero, turned the tables on her, forcing her to break off on both sides, which she did.[1]
She was believed to be killed by the Bronze Tiger on behalf of the League of Assassins. The second Batwoman investigated the murder, but could not find anything. That was because she was never killed; after a staged death, she worked behind the scenes with Spyral to stop Leviathan. She eventually succeeded in shooting Talia al Ghul during her final standoff with Batman, before claiming that she would not be meeting Batman again, leaving to continue leading Spyral.[2]
Notes
- Batwoman (Kathy Kane) first appeared in Earth-One continuity in Detective Comics #233 by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff. She first appeared in New Earth continuity in Batman #678 by Grant Morrison and Tony S. Daniel.
- Katherine Webb Kane is the New Earth counterpart of Katherine Kane (Earth-One) and Katherine Kane (Earth-Two), and replaces her in any stories and references to the original since the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Between Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986) and Infinite Crisis (2005), Kathy Kane was never seen, but was mentioned on at least two occasions:
- In Suicide Squad #38 (1990) she was said to be dead, having been killed by Bronze Tiger. She was not identified as Batwoman, only as a socialite named Kathy Kane. Given that her superhero identity was secret, this mention is compatible with the account of the death of Kathy Kane on Earth-One.
- Bette Kane mentioned her "Aunt Kathy" in Beast Boy #3 (2000). She is implied to be alive. During 52, two new characters with similar names were introduced: Catherine Hamilton Kane, step-aunt of Bette Kane and Kate Kane, the new Batwoman, cousin of Bette Kane.
- Subsequently, the original Batwoman was revealed to exist in the New Earth continuity. She first appeared in hallucinations during Batman R.I.P.. Her full name (Katherine Webb Kane) was finally given in Batman Incorporated #4.
Trivia
- Kathy married Nathan the year Batman became active in Gotham City.
- Katherine was, by marriage, an aunt of Bruce Wayne. This did not stop her in any way from pursuing a romantic relationship with him, although this was after her husband died and she was no longer technically his aunt.
Related
- 5 Appearances of Katherine Webb (New Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Katherine Webb (New Earth)
- 2 Quotations by or about Katherine Webb (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Katherine Webb (New Earth)
Footnotes